From Taiwan to Surrey

哈囉大家好久不見，因為小編前陣子同時得準備期末考和期末報告所以消失了好一會兒呢！
(好啦其實還有跑去葡萄牙玩，然後也順便回台灣過年了，但有人在意嗎哈哈)
這次要來跟大家講講小編的Pre-Sessional經驗，因為有一些人來信詢問這個Pre-Sessional (也就是語言先修課程)的事情，所以小編想說那就統一在這邊跟大家講好了。
小編自己去年(2016)是上五週的語言課程，
Surrey的語言課程有分為12週、8週、5週，
是看你科系的要求跟你雅思的成績有沒有到你申請的系之標準。

如果你的雅思成績沒有達到申請的標準，
而你也不想再考一次雅思的話可以選擇上這個語言先修課程來拿到無條件入學的資格，
不管是幾週的語言課最後都是要考試來評斷你的語言能力是否可以繼續入學。
而小編很幸運的剛好成績都符合自己系的標準，
那為何小編還要選擇來上Pre-Sessional呢？
簡單來說小編是個路癡，
複雜一點來說的話是想提早熟悉新環境，
再加上又可以了解英國論文的寫法和台灣有什麼不同。
這樣講好像會讓大家很困惑，那小編就用列點的形式來讓大家清楚明白好了
1. 可以提前多瞭解學校每棟建築物的所在位子
(這真的很重要，因為你不會想要開學的時候還在手忙腳亂找不到教室吧)
2. 提早來適應一下英國的環境，以及你生活的環境
3. 可以認識一些跟自己不同科系的同學，俗話說出外靠朋友多認識一點人對自己當然是沒有壞處啦
4. 小編覺得這個非常重要，因為Pre-Sessional會教你一些寫作的技巧，其實跟雅思考的東西真的很不一樣，因為在這裡需要寫的比較學術性也需要了解到如何使用正確的reference
當然看了以上這幾點你們一定在想說，所以是一定要參加這個語言先修課程嗎？
嗯…..你成績沒有到當然是得參加，但如果你成績到了就是完全看你自己的意願囉！
沒參加也不打緊，因為在開學的第一個禮拜會有新生週，帶大家認識新環境的，不過小編覺得參加語言課的唯一壞處就是學校不會提供接機服務吧！
（但如果你是直接9月正式來開學的話，學校是有接機的喔！）
有人跟小編說過，一個人去適應一個新環境需要大概3個月的時間，
真的是這樣沒錯啊！
不過永遠別小看人的適應環境能力，真的很強的，
所以不用害怕，因為時間到了生命都會自己找到出口的^___^

PS 照片可能有點圖文不符，但那是小編初來乍到剛到學校時拍的surrey一隅哦

Hello guys, I had disappeared for a while due to the assignment and my final exam. (Ok I will also admit that I went to Portugal and I went back to Taiwan for the Chinese New Year, but who cares about these lol.) This time I will share some experience about the pre-sessional because some of you had asked me about it. I went to the 5-weeks pre-sessional, Surrey also has the 12 weeks and 8 weeks pre-sessional. To attend the pre-sessional is all depended on your IELTS, so if you didn’t meet the goals to apply your ideal program and you don’t want to retake IELTS you can choose to go to the pre-sessional classes. No matter how many weeks are the pre-sessional, all the students have to take the final exam to determine whether you can continue your journey or not. I am lucky that I just got the scores that I don’t have to attend the pre-sessional classes, but still I chose to go for the 5 weeks one. The reasons are :
1) You can know the location of the building more clearly.
2) You will have the chance to know the environment better.
3) You can have more friends though they didn’t major the same as you, having more friends is always helpful right?
4) I think this reason is the most important one, pre-sessional will teach you more about how to write the assignment, the report or the dissertation, which I can tell you is very different from IELTS tests, also how to use the reference correctly.
So, you must be thinking if you already got the unconditional offer do you really have to go to the pre-sessional? The answers is no this is all depend on you, Surrey won’t force you to join it, but if you got the conditional offer you have to go to the pre-sessional. However, don’t worry if you came in September there will still be a fresher man week to guide you through campus. Someone told me that a person gets used to an environment need almost three months, I think is quite true. But never look down on yourself, you never know how strong you are.

今天小編就來跟大家談談住在吉爾福德(Guildford)好了，

因為小編大學都在好山好水的埔里就讀，所以本來也以為Guildford可能也就是另外一個小鎮吧！(就是典型的窮鄉僻壤什麼都沒有。)

結果孰不知Guildford不僅是個風光明媚的小鎮，還是個應有盡有的小小小都市呢！基本上需要的東西在我們可愛的鎮上都可以買的到。例如：台灣最近很夯的香水jo Malone，或是平價服飾H&M or ZARA甚至連無印良品都有呢！當然還有英國本土品牌Superdry，其他的小編就不一一列舉了，你們來再自己看好嗎：）

其實呢，小編覺得在Surrey唸書的好處之一就是生活消費沒有倫敦來得那麼高，但是又離倫敦很近(坐火車約40分鐘)，所以那些省下來的房租錢就可以在有空的時候甚至是boxing day去倫敦買買買。

噓，千萬不要告訴你們的爸爸媽媽小編這樣教壞你們><

小編接下來要和大家分享Guildford怎麼慶祝節日的，那小編就用Bonfire Night來做舉例好了，所謂的Bonfire Night又稱Guy’s Fawkes Night有人翻譯成火炬節，又或者是煙火節。在每年的11/5號英國人會聚集燃火焚毀Fawkes的肖像與人偶，最後施放煙火慶祝。而為什麼大家會那麼討厭這位Guy Fawkes甚至想燒燬他呢？原來是因為在西元1605年11月5號的時候Guy Fawkes不滿英國限制宗教的自由，所以本來打算一把火燒了剛好落成的國會大廈及裡面的國會議員，還有當時的英國王詹姆士一世。不過這計畫最後失敗了，詹姆士一世決定把11月5號訂為Bonfire Night並且點燃營火慶祝那晚逃過一劫，因此這項習俗流傳至今。不同的地區雖然會有不同的方式來慶祝這一天，但基本上都是會施放煙火以及點燃火把，也象徵一年又平安的過去了。

而小編去年剛好有參加到Guildford一年一度的Bonfire Night，如下圖居民們會先在鎮上集合，大家一起點燃燭火然後開始遊街到鎮上的最高點，之後會有施放煙火的秀讓居民可以一同欣賞。

小編覺得這是一個很酷的經驗，因為這個節日小編可說是第一次聽到，雖然大家可能會覺得拿著火把遊街那有什麼好玩的，可是當你真的置身於那個場景中看到那麼多的火把就只有一個壯觀可以形容了。

所以有來Surrey的朋友們千萬不要錯過了每年11月5號的Bonfire Night囉^_^

Hello, today I am gonna share something about living in Guildford. Since I study at NCNU in Taiwan and is like a small town and had nothing fun there, so I just thought that Guildford might be the same as Puli. However, I turn out to be wrong, there are a lot of things to do in Guildford. For example,shopping! And there are lots of brands in Guildfordthe such as , the perfume jo Malone that is popular in Taiwan now, and even H&M or ZARA,also the British brand Superdry, so on. I really think living in Guildford is good because the living cost is not as high as in London, so the money we save can be used for shopping. Shh…don’t tell your parents that I teach you this. I want to share my experience of celebrating the traditional event in the UK, so I will take Bonfire Night for example which is also known as Guy’s Fawkes Night. On this day, people will gather around and hold up the bonfire or burn the figure of Guy Fawkes. The reason that people don’t like Guy Fawkes is because he was trying to set fire in the congress, in order to burn the members and the King. Since he thought it was unfair that how the government treat the religion.Fortunately, the conspiracy had been stopped, so 11/5 people will be together and see the beautiful fireworks in order to celebrate that they didn’t get burn. I think it was a pretty cool experience to walk all the way up to the hill with the bonfire and people. After the parade, there was a little firework show for us to watch. If you have the chance to study in Surrey don’t forget to join the Bonfire Night in the 5^th of November.

哈囉，大家新年快樂：）

小編的跨年是在倫敦度過的，所以這篇打算來和大家分享精彩的跨年煙火秀！

首先，小編和室友們在開放買票時已經順利搶到票了，可以說是個好彩頭呢！

因為倫敦跨年煙火秀是得買票入場的，不同區域看到煙火的角度都是不同，但統一一張票都是十磅，最多一個人只能買四張。

小編這次選擇的是藍區的票(正對倫敦眼)，其他區的視野小編就不一一介紹了。

雖然票上面是寫著晚上8點到10點開放入場，但小編和室友們就住在西敏寺(Westminster)附近，於是決定提早去排隊，沒想到7點半就開放大家進場了。因為英國政府要預防恐怖攻擊，所以在驗票完之後會有一個檢查哨再檢查大家的包包，耐心排隊很快就可以進去了，然後就是寒風中等待絢麗煙火的五個小時…..

雖然五個小時感覺好像很漫長，但其實跟朋友們圍在一起聊天回想著2016年的事時間不知不覺就到了呢！

(良心建議可以提早去排隊佔個好位子，如果可以的話內急什麼的就先解決然後帶點熱的東西吃或喝，因為真的會微微的冷再加上要上廁所的話會有點麻煩)

一下子五個小時過去，來到了54321倒數時刻，雖然在等的時候會覺得到底幹嘛這樣虐待自己，英國的跨年真的不比台灣有很多藝人唱歌那種，大家真的只是在等待煙火爾爾。

可是！跟著大家一起喊完54321的那個瞬間，看到煙火萬箭齊發，再搭配大笨鐘渾厚的鐘響，

瞬間覺得等待的那五個小時完 全 值 得 。

雖然煙火秀只有短短十分鐘，可是所有的煙火搭配著燈光音效和橋段可以說是非常的壯觀，完全值得佔據人生精彩的十分鐘。

而小編個人最喜歡的橋段是用多國語言說出“歡迎來倫敦”，真的讓人非常的印象深刻和驚奇。

最後分享一張小編的視野，雖然拍起來好像沒有很華麗，但請相信小編如果有機會一生一定要來體驗一次倫敦跨年煙火的震撼！

當然不要忘記了，我們Surrey可愛的Catherine會在五天之後拜訪台灣UKEAS遊學展喔！

有空的朋友們，不要忘記去參加囉～

最後再祝大家新年快樂17加油吧^_^

活動資訊如下：

場次一
日期：2017/01/07-2017/01/08
時間：10am-6pm
地點：台北集思台大會議中心
地址：台北市羅斯福路4段85號B1

場次二
日期：2017/01/10
時間：3pm-8pm
地點：台中永豐棧酒店
地址：台中市西屯區台灣大道二段689號

場次三
日期：2017/01/11
時間：3pm-9pm
地點：台南成大會館
地址：台南市東區大學路2號

場次四
日期：2017/01/12
時間：3pm-9pm
地點：高雄國賓飯店
地址：高雄市民生二路202號

Hello, happy new year to all. I went to see the London new year’s eve fireworks, so I want to share some beautiful fireworks with you guys. My flat mates and I bought the entrance tickets online, each area has different views of seeing the fireworks but they are all 10 pounds. We bought the blue area, I think is the best area because you can see the whole view of London eye. It said the entrance would be opened at 8pm-10pm, but we lived near the Westminster so we decided to get in the queue early. Lucky us, we got in at around 0730 pm, but after checking the tickets you have to get your bags check due to the safety reasons. After the entrance, we found a good spot and start waiting for 5 hours. You might think 5 hours are way too long, but thinking about what you did in 2016 and chat with your friends, 5 hours will pass really fast. I totally recommend to go to the toilet before waiting because it was pretty difficult to find a toilet there. I think it was truly worth to wait 5 hours for the fireworks, because at the moment everybody counting 54321 together. You will see fancy fireworks with proper music and light. It was really amazing and worthy. My favorite part was that they used lots of different language to say “welcome to London”, which was very memorable. And here was a pictures that I took though it might seem not that good. But trust me if you have the chance you must come and experience the sensation of London new year’s eve fireworks! Oh, don’t forget our lovely Catherine will attend the UKEAS tour in 7^th, January. If you are interested just go ask her some questions! Wish you all have a happy new year. J

Here are the information about the tour:

Location: Taipei
Date: 7th-8th January 2017
Time: 10am-6pm
Address: GIS Convention Centre, NTU Campus
No.85, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100, Taiwan

Location: Taichung
Date: 10th January 2017
Time: 3pm-8pm
Address: Tempus Hotel, No. 689, Sec. 2, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun Dist., Taichung City

Location: Tainan
Date: 11th January 2017
Time: 3pm-9pm
Address: Zenda Suites, No.2,Dasyue Rd.,East District. Tainan City 701,Taiwan.

Location: Kaohsiung
Date: 12th January 2017
Time: 3pm-9pm
Address: No.202, MingSheng 2nd Road, Kaohsiung City,Taiwan, R.O.C.

小編上篇答應過大家要來分享一下英國的聖誕節。

在西方聖誕節就好比東方國家的過年，就是親朋好友團聚的時刻，

但是他們會從十一月感恩節的時候就開始裝飾家裡，家家戶戶都會掛上最亮眼的裝飾。

小編上個月去了倫敦的Oxford Street，一出地鐵門口就馬上感受到了聖誕節濃濃的氣氛，

街上的裝飾非常的吸引人像是再提前告訴大家聖誕節要來了喔～

聖誕節去倫敦的話，還有一個地方要去那就是海德公園(Hyde Park)的Winter Wonderland，

其實就是聖誕節限定版的遊樂園非常適合老的小的少的男的女的一同前往感受聖誕節氣氛呢！

貼心小提醒Winter Wonderland從每年十一月開到隔年的一月份，

所以要來的朋友們記得查詢一下他們的官網看有沒有變更開門的時間喔～

小編最喜歡Winter Wonderland的一個地方就是，在旋轉木馬上面喝東西。

小編覺得這完全就是為了大人設計的哈哈，

吧台放在旋轉木馬的中間把其他多餘的地方都拆掉裝上桌子，

讓大人有個地方可以喝酒重溫童年在旋轉木馬上的快樂。

(還沒天黑的Winter Wonderland)

當然我們的Guildford也是有聖誕點燈儀式的，只是小編那時剛好有報告纏身沒辦法去感受可說是小編非常大的損失啊…..

希望大家會喜歡小編這篇短短的聖誕文，別忘了1月的時候Surrey會去台灣參加UKEAS的遊學展有興趣的朋友們不要錯過了！

那就明年見囉^____^

祝大家聖誕節快樂！

Hi! Guys! Last time I promise to share some Christmas stuff with you. For the western, Christmas is like there traditional new year. They will gather around with their beloved one just like the people in the east. However, they will start to put up the most shinning decoration from November. In order to let everyone feels the atmosphere of Christmas. I went to London last month, and I really like the decoration in the Oxford street. The ball is trying to tell me that Christmas is just around the corner! One of the thing you can’t miss is the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park which will open only in November to January. My favorite thing to do over there is drinking on the carousal. I think is for the adult only, because they will put a bar in the middle of the carousal and some tables on it. So that people can drink something with their friends and family. This might let the adult think of their happy childhood. Another thing to mention is that our town Guildford also had a lighting ceremony, but unfortunately I was dealing with my assignment so I didn’t have the chance to see. Hope you enjoying this short Christmas murmur. Don’t forget Surrey will go to UKEAS tour in Taiwan next month. If you are curious about anything just go and take a look! See you next year. Wish you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year : )